September-December 2010 Trestleboard

Brothers: I hope everyone had an enjoyable and safe summer and are looking forward to getting back to Lodge this fall for the camaraderie and fellowship that you can only receive in a Masonic Hall.

We had a great spring with two very memorable events in our Awards Night and our Secretary’s Cookout with the DeMolay.  We had a full hall for Awards Night and very enjoyable fraternal visitation from our Grand Master, the Most Worshipful Charles A. Buck.  Along with our usual service awards, we also honored Brother KC Chakravarti with the Emerson C. Reed award and Worshipful Brother Skip House with the Daskam Nott Award.

We also honored a longtime Glastonbury resident, Ed Quinn of E.A. Quinn Landscaping with our Community Service Award for all that he does in the community.  In Ed, we see a lot of our Masonic principles in action from someone who is not a Mason.  We wrapped up the spring with our annual cookout and a public presentation of the DeMolay’s Ceremony of Light.  This cookout helped us raise enough money to cover the costs for the Pinemeadow Chapter boys to go to their summer conclave in July. (Cookout Album) 

For the fall we are planning to perform all three degrees and have a dinner on each of those nights.  I am trying to plan something special for the Master Mason degree in November, by having this be a Past Masters night.  I would like to fill all of the chairs in the first section with a Past Master of the Lodge.  Any Past Master interested in participating in this, please give me a call and we will find a part for you. 

Every year we have brothers tell us about some hard financial times that they are dealing with and as good Masons we attempt to help as much as we can.  We as a lodge will typically remit the dues for brothers that apply to us for assistance.  To help those brothers, we are planning a pasta dinner on Saturday, September 18th as a fellowship fundraiser.  Please come out and support this dinner or if you can not make it, please consider making a donation to help.  This event is coming up fast, so please take a look at the flyer included in this mailing and reply back right away. 

We also have our 5th Annual Fall Wine Tasting for the benefit of our Scholarship Fund coming up on October 2nd.  This is always a very enjoyable evening and very well attended, so get your tickets early as it is limited to only 100 people.  Contact WB Skip House for tickets at 916-1973 or stop by Southside Wine & Spirits to get your tickets

This coming fall the 2011 dues notices will be sent out and I wanted to remind every brother about the availability of a Life Membership in the Lodge.  For 10 times the dues plus the current year’s dues, the secretary will hand you a dues card every year hereafter.  The current cost of a Life Membership is $1210.  For you younger brothers, it will most likely save you money over the years, and for the older brothers, it is a great way to create a memorial to help the lodge in the future.  Please remember that Lodge dues are due on January 1st of the coming year.

Lastly, for those of you that don’t know, our Junior Deacon, Brother Chuck Daly, has been called up for active duty and is now serving overseas.  Please keep Brother Chuck and his family in your thoughts and prayers while he is deployed and let’s hope for a safe and speedy return home.

Hope to see you brothers in Lodge this fall.

Fraternally,             Brother Jeff